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Category: Appropriations

House to Consider Multi-Bill Spending Package

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The House Rules Committee started meeting tonight to go over which of the more than 300 amendments would be made in order during the floor consideration of a multi-bill spending package when it hits the House floor later this week.

The “minibus” currently under consideration includes four of the 12 FY2018 spending bills:  Defense, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction.  While the four-bill minibus package is the bill under consideration, depending on the level of support within the House Republican conference, the House leadership could decide to bring an omnibus spending package instead, one which would contain all 12 bills for FY2018.

Busy Day Expected Today

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Both House Appropriations and Budget Committees are expected to be busy today.

The Budget Committee is scheduled to take up its FY2018 budget resolution today and the committee action is expected to last for most of the day.  While the budget resolution is not law, it will serve as a fiscal blueprint for FY2018.  Among the provisions of interest in the budget resolution include:

  • Instructions to 11 committees to find cuts totaling $203 billion in mandatory spending
  • tax reform instructions
  • cuts totaling $6.7 trillion below current projections through 2027
  • Total discretionary spending level of $1.132 trillion in FY2018:  $621.5 billion for defense programs and $511 billion for non-defense programs

The spending level called for discretionary defense programs for FY2018 will require change in law.  Even if the budget resolution is adopted in committee, questions remain as to whether it will pass the entire House.

With respect to the appropriations process, the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up and clear today the last two spending bills for FY2018, including the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which funds biomedical research and education programs.

In related news, the House Republican leadership announced that it plans to bring up a “minibus” package of four spending bills to the floor next week for consideration.  The package will include the following bills:  Energy and Water Development; Defense; Legislative Branch; and Military Construction- Veterans Administration.

Office of Federal Relations will provide further details.

Will a Massive 12-bill Spending Package Move?

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The House Republican leadership this week is planning to check with their rank-and-file members on their level of receptivity to idea of moving a massive 12-bill omnibus appropriations package for the upcoming FY2018 before the August recess.  The notion of combining all 12 annual spending measures for FY2018 and moving them together as a piece of legislation had been floated earlier this summer by a member of the Appropriations Committee and seems to have some support among the leadership. Members of the leadership team are expected to gauge the level of support for this idea within the rest of the Republican conference this week before deciding on whether to pursue this course of action.

Even if there is enough support for this strategy among the House Republicans, the funding levels called for in such a legislative package– which calls for spending levels above current law for defense and cuts for non-defense programs– will require cooperation from Democrats in order to become reality.

Appropriations Process Trying to Move Forward?

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The 12 individuals appropriations bills for FY2018 in the House have all now been cleared by their respective subcommittees and six have been approved by the full Appropriations Committee.  Meanwhile, one bill has seen action on the other side of the Capitol.

While this may signal some movement on this front, the total amount of funding available for the bills still has not been agreed to and the amount proposed for the defense programs in the House exceed the level allowed by current law.  This all likely means that there will need to be a bipartisan agreement on the overall spending level later this year.  FY2018 starts on October 1.

Congress Returns to Town

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After its July Fourth recess, Congress returns to Washington for three weeks before leaving town for a scheduled five-week August recess.

The Senate Republicans are still trying to address intra-party differences on a “repeal and replace” healthcare bill.  In the House, the Appropriations Committee continues to press forward on its versions of FY2018 spending bills even as the assumed total amount of funding available for the bills will require changes to existing law; the Senate appropriators are also attempting to move their first bill this week as well.